Big Dangers Come in Small Sizes - Commands Stress Proper Usage of Thumb Drives

By Army Spc. Stephanie Homan
Multi-National Corps-Iraq

BAGHDAD -- Thumb drives, memory sticks and pen drives are a few names for universal serial bus drives. No matter what one calls them, they are still potentially dangerous items if misused or lost.

Troops in Iraq may not be totally aware that their personal or government USB drives can cause disaster. These small items have been attained by opposing forces in the past. One Soldier’s mother received a letter in the mail, from an unknown source, falsely stating her son was killed in Iraq.

“The Soldier’s Humvee was hit by an IED and he was injured, not killed,” said Air Force Maj. David Hales, deputy chief of theater information assurance, Multi-National Force-Iraq. “No one even noticed the thumb drive that was left behind during the incident.”

Hales, a Bellevue, Neb., native, said the thumb drive fell into the wrong hands after the incident. It contained some of the owner’s personal information which was used against him and his family by the enemy.

Navy Cmdr. James Ginder, chief of theater Information assurance for MNFI, said improper thumb drive use can cause data compromises.

Frequently, government and personal information is compromised because of careless handling of these tiny USB drives, he said.

“In 2007, KBR laundry service collected over 4,000 thumb drives left in clothing turned in,” Hales added.

Central Command and MNF-I have guidelines covering user procedures and policies for transferring data. Information assurance policies and guidelines, MNF-I Computer Information Systems Joint NetOps Control Center IA Policy F.15-1 and MNF-I CIS JNCC Information Assurance Tactics and Techniques and Procedures 25-112, are just a couple of the places troops can locate information.

“Not following the guidelines is punishable under the Uniform Code of Military Justice,” Hales said. “That’s how serious this is.”

Ginder, a San Antonio native, revealed information assurance and network defense offices closely monitor data compromises so that an investigation and sanitization take place in a timely manner.

“Users need to keep in mind that most everything they do on government computers and networks, including improper thumb drive use, is detectable by MNC-I C-6 and MNF-I Computer Information System personnel” Ginder said.

“It is a privilege to use these items,” he added. “Troops need to be careful with that privilege.”
Questions regarding proper usage can be addressed to local information assurance managers.

**We all know that if something happens to our loved one that we will be notified in person. However, when you receive something like the letter this Mom received, you absolutely freak out and your mind forgets about the proper procedures. Just thought this was worth passing along.